Blu-Ray Disc Finally Approaches Mainstream – Analysts.

Due to format war against HD DVD and initially high prices, Blu-ray disc (BD) has not managed to become more or less mainstream four years after the initial launch. However, market research firm In-Stat believes that this year Blu-ray will finally start to eat the dinner of DVD.

High-volume shipments of Blu-ray players, most of which feature network connectivity, are finally making inroads into the broader disc player and recorder market, reports In-Stat. By 2013, Blu-ray player shipments will still lag slightly behind the 90 million DVD player unit shipments. According to the market tracing firm, shipments of network-enabled Blu-ray players/recorders will approach 80 million units by 2013, which means that even seven years after the inception BD will not become a single de-facto standard, at least, according to In-Stat. However, higher average selling prices will put Blu-ray player revenue at more than 4 times as large as DVD player revenue.

“In North America, significant price drops of Blu-ray players drove unit shipments to triple in 2009. The cost differential between standard definition DVD and Blu-ray is becoming much smaller and new features such as IP/network connectivity are becoming increasingly important. Blu-ray is finally starting to make significant advances market,” said Michelle Abraham, an In-Stat analyst.

Japan dominates the market for Blu-ray recorders. Europe is the largest revenue market for Blu-ray players. 18% of U.S. survey respondents with at least some interest in purchasing a Blu-ray player cited cost as a barrier.